Critic Reviews

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85

Digital Entertainment News (den)

That keeps the fun going; “you’re dead, start over from beginning of level or return to title screen” is a buzz-kill. Simple as that. As a single-player title, FF:ROTSS is no big shakes. The multi-player mode saved it from mediocrity.

Fantastic 4's graphics are about average - nothing spectacular but sharp and clean. The sound effects are crisp but suffer from uneven volume. You'll want to turn down the sound when you hear the loud crumbling rocks, but then you can't hear the dialogue! Likewise there are some minor graphic and control glitches here and there. Fantastic 4 isn't a groundbreaking title, but if you're in the mood for some superhero action, it's more than respectable.

By the time you’re done with the game, you’ll feel slightly satisfied with it, but you’ll also feel slightly cheated because there could have been so much more to this game. However, it can only be taken so far since the F4 aren’t the same type of crime fighters like Spider-Man or Batman, so one can’t expect a free roam game. Unless you are a die hard Fantastic 4 fan, it’s hardly worth a purchase. Still, it’s a solid rental and a good way to spend some time having a bit of fun. If you really want to kick ass as the Fantastic 4, go play Marvel: Ultimate Alliance.

Except for the ally AI, everything works; this is still a completely functional game. It’s just hollow and unfulfilling, from the basic combat right down to the objectives and level design. Strangely, for all its faults, I am thankful for one thing this game provides: the opportunity to steer Johnny Storm face-first into oncoming subway trains. Wham! Take that, you extreme sports-loving toolbox!

There was a wealth of material here that it seems the dev team tried to cram into the story. Instead of a well-scripted tale, this game is a random (repetitive) level run that loosely fits some story, if you can find and hold on to the main thread. It is hoped that the dev team learns from this and does justice to the franchise with the next outing.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer isn't a bad game; in fact like I said it has all the trimming to make it a stellar game, it just forgets to execute them all properly. Lack of online and sketchy graphics headline the game's serious flaws while the wonky co-op camera almost kills the idea of any type of multi-player action. Fans of the comics and movie may find some redemption hidden away in this package but for everyone else it feels more like a rushed project than a solid outing.

Players who've had experience with other titles such as X-Men Legends or Marvel Ultimate Alliance may want to just rent Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer if they really need a superhero fix. Compared to the competition, RotSS feels more like a side story that borrows just enough gameplay elements to provide fan service for those who can't get enough of the film, but as a game, it's not much of a leap from an expensive bag of stale popcorn at the theater.

Sure, the game -- minus the Alba stand-in's hair -- looks good and its not tear-your-hair out frustrating like it's PS2/Wii counterpart, but the first time you try to fly Johnny over a pit of lava and he hits an invisible wall preventing him from entering the ample airspace or find that you can only punch "puzzle" elements in a specific direction, you realize just how linear the future is. The bottom line is you never feel like you're the Fantastic 4. Instead, you're a big orange tank and three kick boxers who know some magic tricks.

Fantastic Four isn’t bad in the sense that it’s incredibly buggy or overly frustrating. It’s just mind-numbingly mundane. And the thinly veiled attempts at character customization aren’t enough to make the game any less boring. No one part of the experience will ever stick with you. The only thing you’ll remember about Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is how unbelievably forgettable it is.

If this game is a shining example of what mankind is capable of, then please, Galactus, devour our world. I thought that the video game industry had learned a lesson or two since the dark days of Catwoman, but with Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, we’re diving right back into that dirty comic book movie litter box.

In the end, it's difficult to recommend Fantastic Four to anyone. Fans of the comic book and movie will likely be frustrated by the limited abilities of the main characters, and everyone will be let down by the generally unexciting, repetitive gameplay.

The entire quest won't take you much longer than 5-7 hours, even if you go out of your way to find the extra unlockables (artwork, movie trailers, costumes, hidden tokens, etc.), but that doesn't help matters. The whole thing is just completely unexciting and even laborious at times, so F4: Rise of the Silver Surfer probably won't grab your attention for longer than a few hours. It's another shot at quality that ends up being just another boring, repetitive, uninspired game based on a movie. Yippee.

Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer was an idea that should have been a great game but wasn't. The bland environments, boring stages, repetitive enemies, and easily exhausted powers make the Fantastic Four feel more like a fantastic chore or just a fantastic bore.

After you’ve read this review I would hope that you wouldn’t even consider purchasing Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, no matter the cost. If you want a good super hero multiplayer game I would recommend either Marvel Ultimate Alliance or even one of the X-men Legends games. The game only takes six hours to beat but yet it costs nearly 60 dollars. I’ll let you do the math.

In the end, I find myself still waiting for the good video game based on a movie … based on a comic book, kind of like I’m still waiting for a good Fantastic Four movie. The good news is yet another chance lies just around the corner. Come on, Iron Man!

Despite an entire review's worth of problems, Fantastic Four isn't a complete loss. It has some nice-looking effects ("flaming on," specifically), a decent joke or two, and some nice extras to unlock (old Fantastic Four comic covers, alternate costumes, etc.), but it's just not compelling in any of the basic areas it needs to be. Kids might enjoy it if they don't get too frustrated with the boss battles and solo missions, but full-grown gamers have dozens of better choices for action, superheroic or otherwise.

For all it does half-heartedly, part of us still wants to like Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer because of what it is: a game about the Fantastic Four. Fortunately, the more reasoning part of us thinks that this game just adds to the list of games that publishers know they don't have to try hard to sell a lot of copies (Spider-Man 3 anyone?) because, like we said, it's the Fantastic Four OMG! We know that plenty of people will look past the monotonous gameplay, poor voice acting, unimaginative level design, lack of online play, etc., but our advice is to hold out for the next movie.

I had hope for the Fantastic Four game. I really did. After Spider-Man showed us it is possible to make a game based on a movie that was fun, then the Ultimate Alliance game proved beat-‘em up action games still have kick left in them. While the graphics were nice and I always enjoy laying down the law on communist space monkeys, there is already a much better game with the famous group of heroes. Fantastic Four fanatics apply only because there isn’t much in this game that will provide endless hours of fun.

Also, even with its unlockable retro outfits, comic book covers, and a plethora of other unlockable goodies that the die-hard comic fans might be tempted by, I still can’t recommend a purchase, as it‘s still a low-grade knock-off of the far-superior X-Men Legends games, and isn’t required playing for anyone. If you absolutely must get a video game fix of the Fantastic Four, maybe give it a rental, since you’ll at least be able to unlock the hidden goodies, which are just about the game’s only redeeming factor to fans of the comics.

The graphics are distinctly last-gen, with bland, repetitive environments that feel as slapped together as every other part of this lackluster brawler. And it's not as if it's shocking that ROTSS feels as rushed as it does. Most gamers know not to expect much from a game based on a movie, but even by those standards, ROTSS is a disappointment. It's not as bad as the similar but different PS2 and Wii versions, but that's the faintest praise one could ever give a game.